Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Any properly executed squat, however, may be a more effective muscle builder than all other exercises combined. It requires the synchronized recruitment of muscle fibers throughout your body. And because squatting is one of the most natural human movements, like walking or using the remote, it's perfectly safe. And new research shows that squats burn up to three times as many calories as previously thought. So it's a powerful fat-burning tool as well.

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Named for the way in which you hold the weight--in front of your chest, with your hands cupped--the goblet squat may in fact be the only squat you need in your workout.

Monday, August 20, 2007

"Many women have spent an average of 20 years "dieting," so another safe assumption is that we know a lot about what to do right. However, little attention is usually given on what not to do. Apply this list of things NOT to do to your healthful regimen, and spare yourself many of the pitfalls that derail most dieters."

1. Having a negative defeatist attitude. If you think there is no way that you are going to succeed this time, lose the weight and keep it off, then you will be right! However, if you think positively and believe that change is at hand, you will empower your journey, and you will reach your goals!

2. Going on any diet that is NOT a manner of eating that you can adhere to for the rest of your life. Be careful when deciding what nutritional plan you want to follow, as it should be a manner of eating that matches your tastes, budget and lifestyle. You should model all of your future nutritional plans closely after how you lost the weight to keep that weight lost for good!

3. Believing that you will eat cabbage soup -- or any other low-cal, monotonous fare everyday for the rest of your life. If a particular odd "diet" is something that you can barely stomach, it isn't realistic to think you will eat that way for the entire time it takes to lose all the weight. It certainly won't teach you much about how to live healthfully for the long-term. Just say NO, to cabbage soup and other such funky diets!

4. Weighing in too frequently, letting the scale rule your mood and actions. Up to this point, have you been fixated on the scale? Well, if so, it hasn't really helped you lose weight, has it? Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, looking for yet another "diet." So do us both a favor, and pack the scale up, put a big red bow around it, and unwrap it after six months of consistent healthful living. It might actually show you something you want to see! --- more »

Sunday, August 19, 2007

"Scientists have suspected for decades that exercise, particularly regular aerobic exercise, can affect the brain. But they could only speculate as to how. Now an expanding body of research shows that exercise can improve the performance of the brain by boosting memory and cognitive processing speed. Exercise can, in fact, create a stronger, faster brain."

Not very long ago, scientists and doctors thought that the number of brain cells a person has after puberty was all they would ever have in their life. Now scientists now that adults produce new brain cells throughout adulthood and into old age, in a process called neurogenesis. The article explains that physical exercise enhances neurogenesis.

Remember that big conversation you had with yourself, in which you vowed to lose weight or find a new career or start exercising, etc? Do things always seem to get in the way of accomplishing even the simplest of goals like calling potential clients? If you find yourself in the intellectual zone and not the productive zone, I have some ideas for you to think about if you’re willing to break out of your personal “comfort zone“. [link]

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.- Eleanor Roosevelt

It's amazing how many cares disappear when you decide not to be something, but to be someone.- Coco Chanel

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.- Maya Angelou

It's easy to fall into the trap: A workout buddy passes along an exercise tip, and then you pass it on to several folks you know. One day, you're at the gym, and sure enough, you hear the same tip repeated, so you figure it must be true. But experts say that in the world of fitness, myths and half-truths abound – and some of them may be keeping you from getting the workout you need.

"Some myths are just harmless half-truths, but many others can actually be harmful," says professional triathlete and personal coach Eric Harr, author of The Portable Personal Trainer. "They can cause frustration in working out and sometimes even lead to injury," he notes.

One reason myths get started, says Harr, is that we all react to exercise a little differently. So what's true for one person may not be true for another.

"In this sense you sometimes have to find your own 'exercise truths' – the things that are true for you," says Harr.

That said, experts say there are also some fitness myths that just need busting, and the sooner the better!

To be healthy, you really do need to break into a sweat when you exercise, say experts.

Recently, researchers at Queen's University, Belfast, found walking for half an hour on just three days a week gave similar fitness and blood pressure benefits to walking for 30 minutes five times a week.

The sports scientists, however, say this advice is misleading and could encourage people to do too little exercise.

"There are people who have not accepted, and others who have misinterpreted, the original recommendation.

"Some people continue to believe that only vigorous intensity activity will improve health while others believe that the light activities of their daily lives are sufficient to promote health," they told Circulation.